


Stanuary Week Three & Four: AU + Fight

by cuppydogcity



Series: Stanuary 2020 [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: AU, Conflict Resolution, Dipper Pines and Grunkle Stan Bonding, Family Bonding, Ford Pines and Mabel Pines Bonding, Other, Pines Family Bonding, Relativity Falls, Stanuary, Stanuary 2020, but the twins r clearly affected by his parenting style to some degree, dipper and mabel arent as old as the stans in the regular universe, filbrick is not a good dad. he doesnt appear in this nor is there anything serious, mabel and pacifica are married but it doesnt come up much, stanley may or may not have stolen a plaidypus egg depending on what you choose to believe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22416265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuppydogcity/pseuds/cuppydogcity
Summary: Stanley and Stanford have a fight, and it's up to Dipper and Mabel, their guardians for the summer, to try and teach them conflict resolution skills.Relativity Falls AU! Basically, the Stan twins are the younger pair that are sent to Mabel and Dipper over the summer.
Relationships: (mentioned) - Relationship, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Fiddleford H. McGucket/Ford Pines, The Author | Original Stanford Pines & Mabel Pines, stanley "stanford" pines & Dipper pines, stanley "stanford" pines & The Author | Original Stanford Pines
Series: Stanuary 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1590484
Comments: 4
Kudos: 64
Collections: Stanuary





	Stanuary Week Three & Four: AU + Fight

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is so late!! i was sort of unmotivated, and i was halfway through when i realized it fit into both themes, and my week three was too late anyways, so i decided to combine them. i hope it doesn't sound like a cop-out!  
> please comment if you enjoyed it or have any thoughts, them and kudos are my motivation to keep writing! thank you so much! :-) <3  
> (broken glass is mentioned and so is blood but its only in the first scene and its not serious at all, nor is it described in any amount of detail. skip to the third paragraph if that's still too much for you, though! :~])

“What’s going on?! Who’s hurt?!” Dipper burst into the room at the sound of shattering glass and a cry of pain.

The two younger twins, Stanley and Stanford, were glaring at each other, Stanley clutching a bleeding hand. Orange juice had sprayed into their bowls of cereal, and was now starting to run off the table, dripping all over the floor. There was a shattered glass cup that was likely the source.

The sound of socks sliding on hardwood preceded Mabel, who slid into the room in much a similar fashion to Dipper. She looked around for a second, before her eyes seemingly locked onto Stan’s injury. She tiptoed over the broken glass that had dropped onto the floor, and crossed the room.

“What happened here?” She exclaimed, opening the medicine cabinet and procuring a first-aid kit. It zipped open, and she rifled through the contents, as her twin fished out a broom and started sweeping up the mess of glass.

Stanley started to explain, but cut himself off with a wince as Mabel applied antiseptic cream to the wound. 

“Stanley said I was selfish and that my feelings are invalid!” Stanford yelled, pointing a finger at his injured brother, looking between the two older twins, as if searching for someone to hear him out.

“I did not! Liar!” Stanley moved to slam his hands down on the table in anger, but winced once more as his wrist strained against Mabel’s iron grasp of healing.

“You did! You said I, and I quote, ‘Why don’t you just marry Fiddleford since you two have sooo much in common!’ That’s invalidation, Stanley!” Stanford was pointing fingers and standing up at this point, and had accidentally knocked the box of Leprecorn Charms cereal onto the floor, where it spilled out its contents. Dipper rolled his eyes, and swept that up, too.

“Well, excuuuse me for wanting to have my brother around! I can tell you don’t know what that’s like--!!”

“Boys!” Mabel and Dipper called out at the same time, silencing the brother in their tracks. The younger twins cowered under their stern glare. Mabel and Dipper were by all accounts fun guardians, but.. They can be kind of terrifying when they want to be.

They glanced at each other for a second, before nodding.  
“Come on,” said Dipper, grabbing Stanley by his uninjured wrist.  
“Wh-hey! I’m injured, y’know!” Stanley yelped, as they crossed the puddle of orange juice, and headed outside.

Ford’s eyes widened, and they cautiously slid over to Mabel, who met his gaze head-on. He swallowed thickly, and looked down at his orange-juice-splattered cereal.

~~~

Dipper sat Stan on a stump a decent ways outside the Shack.

“Now, Stan, what was that all about?” His arms were crossed, fully absorbed into the ‘stern disapproving guardian’ role.

Stan looked grumpy, and his eyes were downcast. His hands were absentmindedly rubbing the glittery band-aids that were stuck to his wrist, courtesy of Mabel.

Dipper sighed, and crouched down in front of him. “I’m not mad, Stan. Seriously, what happened?”

Stanley mumbled something inaudible, and hunched his shoulders into the classic grumpy kid pose.

Dipper motioned for him to say it louder.  
Stan groaned, rolled his eyes, and shouted, “I know I’m being stupid, okay?! Ford and that dumb idiot loser Fiddlyford, or whatever, are always hanging out doing smart people things, and he never has any time for me anymore, and he clearly hates me now, and, I ruined everything, and..” His words dissolved into hiccups, and he turned around on the stump, his back to Dipper. His shoulders hunched even further up, almost covering his ears now.

Dipper’s eyebrows raised and slightly knit together; Stan hardly ever cried, especially not so openly. This really must be serious.

“Hey,” he called out in a soft voice. Stan made no sign that he heard him, only half-hiccuping every few seconds in a way that indicated he was trying, and failing, to stop crying.

Dipper placed a hand on his shoulder, and made the decision not to notice Stan’s flinch. He wrote a mental sticky-note to snail mail Caryn about this.

“Hey, Stan. Could you turn around, please?” He made a concentrated effort to sound as warm and not-mad as possible, going so far as to start toeing the line of patronizing.

Stan shook his head no, still trembling with half bitten-back sobs. His back was still turned to Dipper, and he very much looked like he wanted to disappear, or go invisible.

“I won’t force you to turn around if you don’t want to.” He shrugged, before sighing. This kid really was upset.. Maybe relating to him was Dipper’s best bet of getting through the sad kid barrier.  
“I’m not mad, Stan. I promise. I’m not gonna punish you over having a fight with your twin. It’d be hypocritical of me; you know, I used to fight with Mabel over stuff like that all the time.”

“What, really? No way.” Stan mumbled, in a watery voice. He was still resolutely faced away from Dipper, but his shoulders dropped down a fraction.

“No, really, I did.” Dipper allowed himself a nostalgic smile, even though it would remain unseen, “She would always hang out with her friends during summer break, and I never really had any friends that I could do that with. I was never really, Social McButterfly, you know?  
I felt like she was leaving me behind, and I hated it so much, I felt like a used tissue.  
So, one afternoon, after she came home from another day out with her friends, I blew up on her.  
I said some, honestly, really nasty stuff. Much worse than whatever you probably said. She was in tears, and I just felt awful knowing that I did that. You’re probably feeling similar, right?

He could see Stan nod, and he started to turn to face Dipper. Dipper could see how red and blotchy his face was - he was very clearly in pieces over this fight.  
“Yeah, I guess.. How did you get her to stop hating you?”

Dipper ruffled Stan’s hair in a weak noogie, “She never hated me, knucklehead. She never wanted to replace me, either.  
We talked it out, I apologized, and we decided to make a compromise. She spent time hanging out with her friends, still, but she always made time for me, too. We just had a big misunderstanding, that’s all.”

“I don’t really want to see him right now, though.” Stan grimaced, “I was gonna try and apologize this morning, but, then, that whole thing happened. I feel like if I go back now it’s just gonna repeat itself.”

“Yeah, I get that. You’re probably still a little upset, so, I have an idea; let’s hunt for some plaidypi.”

“You sure you got the right twin? I’d’ve thought you’d prefer to do that with Ford.” Stan questioned.

“I promise you’ll love it. It’s going to be fall soon, which is when they hibernate. That means they’ll be fighting over dens!” Dipper put extra cheer in his voice. He was suddenly reminded of the summer he spent as a camp superviser - hopefully there will be fewer live-fish-down-shorts incidents.

“What?! Awesome!!! I’ll race you there!” Stan took off sprinting.

“Hey! No fair! I’m an old man now!” a pause, “You don’t even know where we’re going!”

~~~

Ford sat ramrod straight, trying to pay attention to anything but the current situation. This vacation was supposed to be fun, and, really, it had been so far, but, what if this punishment is so awful it completely spoils what had happened?

He mentally cringed and braced himself.

“Yeesh, don’t look so petrified, kiddo. What do you think I’m gonna do? Get the Gobblewonker to eat your head?” Mabel snorted, and gave him a good-natured, but firm, pat on the back. Behind the casual gesture, though, she was writing a sternly-worded letter to their parents about his response to being in trouble.

Ford’s dread was replaced with cautious anxiety. “Wh..” His voice cracked, and he mentally cringed at himself for it, “What are you gonna do, then?”

“I’m not gonna do anything; We’re gonna bake!” Mabel smiled, and plonked a chef’s hat on top of Ford’s head before he could react. Hopefully this will help him relax some.

“Baking? Isn’t that for girls?” Ford asked, his eyebrows furrowed. Pa would have a fit if he saw Ford baking.

“Baking is for anyone! I mean, we don’t have to, but you’d miss out on my special jelly bean cupcakes.” She sighed in faux disappointment, shrugging and turning her back to Ford.

Contrary to what people might have you believe, Ford can recognize, occasionally, when he’s getting played like a chump. This is true even when the person supposedly playing him has made a living on upselling not-that-great merchandise. But, seriously - who would miss out on jelly bean cupcakes?

“I’ll do it.” he agreed instantly.

“Awesome! I knew you would. Alrighty, go get the flour. It’s in that drawer over there.” Mabel beamed, pointing at a cabinet on the other end of the kitchen.

Ford looked over at the recipe. It seemed pretty easy, even for his baking level-- perhaps too easy. What was she planning?

He pulled over a chair to reach the correct cabinet, and brought the flour back over to Mabel, plopping it down on the plastic kitchen table with a thud.

“Aren’t you.. I don’t know, going to stage some sort of questioning about what happened with me and Stanley?” he cautiously probed. That seemed like something a responsible guardian would start to do immediately.

Mabel gave a seemingly-innocent smile, “I know it wouldn’t get anywhere. It’s not like you want to talk about it, right?”

Ford couldn’t say he disagreed - still, it felt unsatisfying somehow, as if he expected more.

They continued on in silence for a while, Ford occasionally scurrying to another cupboard for an ingredient or two. (Mabel just put a hand on her lower back and faked some groans of pain when he dared ask why she wasn’t fetching anything.)  
His suspicions were starting to prove more and more probable - Mabel was unusually silent, usually she’d fill any silence with chatter about any- and everything.  
Now, though, she was saying almost nothing, least of all anything about his fight with Stan.

Ford sighed, and broke the oppressive silence, finally giving in to Mabel’s probable brain magic, “Stanley started it.”

At her slightly confused expression, he clarified, “Stanley is the one that started the fight. I was spending time with Fiddleford as usual, and out of nowhere he just got enraged at me. He started yelling at me about how if I like Fiddleford so much I should just, just, marry him.”

Mabel nodded sagely, as if she knew this already.

“I see. Well that was kinda mean of him.”

Ford spluttered, “How, pray tell, how could you call the worst fight I’ve ever had with Stanley ‘kinda mean of him’!!” He threw up his hands in disbelief. Gosh, the nerve!

Mabel ruffled his hair, not phased by his shouting.

“Kiddo, when you get to be my ripe old age--”

“You’re hardly pushing forty.”

“You didn’t let me finish. When I was as young as you, back when the dinosaurs were around, I had a fight with Dipper that was really similar. I was hanging out with Aunt Candy and Aunt Grenda and my then-girlfriend-now-wife Pacifica, when I came home one day and he was really upset with me. I didn’t get it at the time, and to be honest, I was really hurt by the things he was saying. He even called me an,” she looked around conspiratorially, before whispering loudly, “asshole.”

Ford covered his mouth in shock at the swear, before continuing on with his explanation, “Well, I tried to talk it out this morning, but then he slammed his glass of orange juice on the table and it shattered everywhere-”

“Did you really try to talk, or was it just a continuation of the argument?”

Ford’s face felt hot, and he averted his gaze.

“Yeah. Look, Fordsy, I’m not trying to tell you to stop hanging out with Fiddleford, or that Stan is in the right for blowing up at you. If anyone tries to tell you you’re being unreasonable, give ‘em the old one-two, alright?” Ford rolls his eyes and nods. Mollified, she presses on, “I’m just saying he might feel a little left out.”

“It’s easy for you to say that when you’re not wrapped up in puberty. It’s hard to think of peaceful solutions when you’re angry and all.. Awkward and sweaty.” He shook his uncomfortably moist hands for emphasis. Puberty is a nightmare, especially in a hot Oregonian summer.

“I get it, kid. I’m sweaty, too - It’s summer, and I’m in a woolen sweater! Anyway, I’m not gonna make you two talk it out now when you’re both still sort of emotional about it all. These are calm-down cupcakes. Now, how much glitter should I add into the batch? It really brings out the chemically flavours of the jellybeans.”

“Uh, I don’t think it’s technically safe for human consumption -”

“Psh, technically, schmecnically. When were cupcakes ever healthy? That’s the whole point!” She said, before shrugging and deciding to dump the rest of the canister in the batter.

“Fair point.” He concedes. “I think I saw another stash somewhere, want me to go get it?”

“Now you’re speaking my language!”

~~~

About an hour later, the cupcakes were cooling on the oven’s hob, and the other twins came home, slightly messier for wear.

There was immediate tension - neither of the younger twins expected the other to be right there so soon.

It took some gentle and quiet gestures for them to speak up - coincidentally at the same time.

“I-”

“Ford-”

“No, you go on.”

“Nah, you deserve a chance to speak.”

It continued like that for a few minutes, before finally, Ford clears his throat, and starts his apology for real.

“Look, Stan.. I’m really sorry for always hanging out with Fiddleford all the time. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was neglecting you, I just,” he starts to stutter a bit, and goes slightly pink, “you know, really enjoy hanging out with him.”  
He coughs again, and continues, “I enjoy hanging out with you the most, though. You’re my brother, and nothing could get in between us.”

Stan sniffed, and willed away any tears. There was a slight wobble in his voice as he said his part, “And I’m sorry that I blew up on you for hanging out with your friend. It wasn’t cool of me, and I’m sorry. You deserve to spend time with him, even if he does have a dumb name, and I think I’m starting to be more alright with that. You’re the best brother I could hope for, and I’m sorry I was blind to that for a bit.”

“Awkward sibling hug?” Ford stretched out his arms hopefully.

“Awkward sibling hug.” Stan confirmed.

They gave each other a big hug, also saying the characteristic “Pat, pat,” that distinguishes it from a regular sibling hug.

“Well done, you two! I think the cupcakes are about finished cooling down, who wants to try some?” Mabel said, gesturing to the still-steaming cupcakes.

Both of the younger twins clamored for them, and scrambled over to shove as many in their mouths as they possibly could.

This was a mistake.

“OW! HOT! HOT HOT HOT! MOLTEN JELLYBEANS, THESE DEFINITELY WERE NOT COOLED DOWN ENOUGH.”

“We’re good guardians.” Mabel smiled.

“Agreed.” nodded Dipper, over the sound of the tap on full as the twins filled up glasses to try and cool down their mouths.

**Author's Note:**

> deleted(?) scene:
> 
> "And, as an apology gift, I got you this." Stanley held out a flannel-patterned egg.
> 
> "Is that a plaidypus egg?? Thank you so much, Stanley! You're the best brother ever!!" Stanford held it close to his chest.
> 
> "What how did you get that. Put it back." said Dipper.
> 
> A cracking noise, and lots of adoring cooing. "Aww, it's so small!"
> 
> "We need to put it back right now."
> 
> "Too late it already imprinted on me. I'm gonna call it Bat-Man." said Ford.
> 
> Dipper passed out.


End file.
